I'm following first person style for the main games, just so that it's easier to picturise stuff. So on with the chapter.

Bloodbath

Horatio Aravani (14) D12M

It felt weird standing in the hall, alone except for my father. He sat on the chair as I changed into my tribute outfit, and it felt really awkward. Still, I took in the design of the outfit and was confused. It was a suit with a really thick material, all black as charcoal, with long boots. There were gloves in there, and I wondered what it was for. The attire could be for some space expedition film, and I wondered if they forgot to put the helmet.

"You're looking handsome, my son," father said from the chair, smiling kindly at me.

I clenched my fists as I looked at the floor. Any time now, they were going to announce that the tributes had to get into the tube that stood right beside him. I wondered what was about to happen, what the arena would be like, and looking at my father smiling at me, I wondered if Claude would watch. I really wanted him to. In case I survived, which I really hoped that I would, I would be able to see his reaction. If not, then I knew what he would think.

A slow smile started forming on my lips, and before he knew it, I was sitting beside dad, his ghost looking astounded as I winked at him.

"Hey son," my father said worriedly as he looked at me, "Do you have any plan on how to survive this?"

"Don't worry dad, I got this."

Before he could ask me anything else, however, Atlas' voice announced that tributes were to enter the tube. It was now that I felt my throat go dry, and I quickly helped myself to some water before making my way into the tube. My father looked at me in utmost faith, and I knew that I had to do this. But as the glass started rising around me, I couldn't help but feel suffocated. I banged hard on the walls as the tube started rising, panic finally gripping me. This could be my end. My end.

I was shivering and felt hot at the same time. Right now I wanted to break free, and suddenly I imagined Claude, looking worried as he saw me. That helped me to control myself, but then my father appeared right into the tube, beside me.

"I'm with you, son."

"I'm glad you are."

My chest heaving, I saw from the top of the tube that it was night time… but as far as I remembered it was supposed to be day. Hadn't we all left the training facility at sharp 8:00 AM? Then why was everything so dark?

And then suddenly I stopped rising, and the glass walls started descending back into the platform.

All around me were tributes, raised on platforms just like mine. The earth… didn't look like earth? The entire ground was made of rocks, and there was nothing else anywhere, apart from what appeared to be craters, and even they were few in number. The sky was pitch black, but there was still a lot of light. In fact, everything was as clear as if it was daytime. Right in front of me was a large ball, full of holes here and there. The ball was a pale pink in colour, as if the very rocks that made it were sick. There were a few spots on it, but otherwise nothing. I couldn't see anything around that big ball, and then I realised what it was. I could never have thought that they'd make such an enclosed and congested cornucopia, but maybe it made sense. But the place certainly explained the weird clothes.

This was the arena, and it was not supposed to be a part of this earth.

Thirty.

Twenty-nine.

Twenty-eight.

"Son."

I looked up at my father, hovering right in front of me. I was glad he was with me but he looked more… solid? As if he was really there, not his ghost. He was smiling at me, and extended his hand.

Seventeen.

Sixteen.

Fifteen.

"Come on son, take my hand."

"No, I can't," I told him calmly, "There's still time."

"Son, everything will be fine. Take my hand."

I looked at him, my shoulders slumped, wondering what he wanted right now. But he said everything would be fine. So, hesitating for a second, I took his hand.

And before I could do anything, he pulled me and I fell forward on the ground, and before I could question him, the world erupted in flames. And then there was darkness.

Lanai Mitsubishi (12) D6F

I looked on in horror as the boy from Twelve just… blew up. He was standing just there, and then he extended his hand and then jerked forward, falling on the ground. And then the area around him blew up, as if something was just waiting for this to happen. Even as the smoke subsided considerably, I saw that nothing of him remained. But now was not the time to worry about that. Now was the time to worry about how exactly to escape from this place.

Three.

Two.

One.

And Lanai knew she could continue right now, even if everything was still. She took in a deep breath and then jumped.

There was no explosion.

It seemed that my bravery was noticed by everyone, so by the time I had started running towards the weird cornucopia, there were other tributes who had started following me, everyone either running towards the cornucopia or away from it.

"Lanai come back!" I heard Dwayne yell at me, but I paid no heed. The rest of my allies were all cowards, if I said so myself, and would never take a risk. However, even as I reached the cornucopia, a strong hand pulled me back. I saw that I had a few seconds to either grab something or run, and hence I shook off Dwayne and reached inside the ball.

"AAHHH!"

There was a kind of weird, purplish, slimy thing sticking inside, the moment I put my hand in, it felt as if my hand had burnt away despite the gloves. I blindly groped around for something, anything¸ and found a tiny bag. Pulling it out, I hastily put it on my shoulders and allowed Dwayne to pull me away, even as the Careers arrived.

Maybe my ally had asked my other allies to stay away, for I saw Shama and Canon run towards a crater. Before we could make it any further, somebody grabbed my bag and pulled me back. I yelled out in pain, and saw that it was Jordan, having grabbed a knife from the cornucopia. A sadistic smile played on her lips and then she pushed the knife towards me.

However, Dwayne smacked her hand hard, making the knife drop. Even as Jordan yelled at him in rage, he grabbed my hand and pulled me away, towards the crater, dodging attacks from other tributes.

"You're an idiot!" Dwayne muttered as he pulled me away from the target of a knife flying, which landed right in front of us. He grabbed it as we passed it. We ran and ran, and my limbs were tiring out, my wrist hurt due to his tight grip, and I wanted to yell at him to stop. He looked back again, and his eyes widened in horror as somebody slammed into him. Yanking the knife from his hand, Jordan turned towards me and shoved the knife in my abdomen.

It was in slow motion and I watched in dazed amusement as the knife was pulled back. Warm blood gushed out even as I started trembling, and I heard a loud cry from Dwayne as he pushed Jordan away, and his fearful face was the last thing I ever saw.

Ivory Borg (16) D1F

Jordan stabbed the girl from Twelve, and I felt a lump form in my throat. The girl was twelve, twelve, and our sadistic ally had done this to her.

I watched as she turned towards the boy from Seven, who was lying on the ground, defenceless. I contemplated whether I should let Jordan finish him off first, but the hungry gleam in her eyes told me that I couldn't let it happen. If anyone else was the attacker, I wouldn't interfere. But Jordan… the way she looked at him told me enough.

Even as she kneeled down beside him, the rest of the world forgotten, I grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it at her, knocking the knife out of her hand, injuring it. she looked at me in shock as I ran towards her, holding my katana tightly. We had already planned to kill her anyway, and I was sure none of my allies would mind. Jordan didn't look slightest bit worried though, and I soon realised why.

Saunder appeared out of nowhere and thrust his trident forward. I dodged it, but it scraped my shoulder, drawing blood.

"What are you doing?!"

"What are you doing?" he countered, and I realised we were both circling each other.

"We need to take her out!"

"You guys want to take me out as well, Ivory. Why should I help you?"

I stopped. How did he know…?

"Didn't think I would notice, right? Typical District One girl."

"Well, since you have it all figured out, let's get the party started."

And then, just as he nodded, a loud cry startled me. We both looked up as Aryton pushed his sabre into Mickayla's heart, and before I realised what they were planning to do, he and Jordan surrounded Emeline.

"NO!"

But I shouted too late, and Aryton slammed her down even as Jordan slit her throat. The cannon rang too loudly, making my head feel dizzy. Before I could digest what happened though, Saunder attacked me, and I just managed to defend myself. In the distance I saw that Siobhan and Jordan had started a hand-to-hand combat, while Everette and Casper dealt with Aryton.

"I need one of you here!" I called out to them, but neither of them responded. They didn't even kill the boy from Six, and simply loaded bags of supplies on their shoulders and took off from the scene, leaving me and Siobhan all alone.

"What the hell?!"

"The boys realised that you could turn on them," Saunder replied, panting slightly as he made his next move, which I barely dodged. Siobhan was outnumbered as Aryton and Jordan both attacked her, and it was probably her skills that she was still alive. I heard another cry, and looked to my left to see that Wesley was struggling against Teddy as they fought for supplies. Teddy, however, smartly ducked his move and stabbed his stomach with a stone. Even as he lost focus for a second, she reached out and twisted his neck, ending it right there.

A stone came soaring out of nowhere, hitting Saunder on the back of his head, and Dwayne, who I had thought had escaped in this time, motioned at me to follow him. he looked hurt, and I then saw Ari coming at him. Ari? She never looked like a girl who would try to kill in the bloodbath…

It was then that a cannon rang again, and I looked behind to see that Maurice, Ari's District Partner, was dead.

"You…?" I whispered even as Dwayne yelled at me to follow him.

But it wasn't the time to for questions. I motioned him to leave, and ran straight for Ayton and Jordan, slamming right into them. Both of us had retrieved a bag each, and we took off as fast as we could. I saw Dwayne running along us even as Ari threw a disc right at him. He dodged it and then all three of us jumped into the first crater that we saw.

And I was blown away. I had thought I was jumping into something else, but this was certainly more than that.

Tapicca Shrone (14) D9F

The ground was hard to run on.

The bloodbath had truly started, and I saw Careers turning on each other, something that I hadn't expected. That gave me enough time to find some supplies for myself though, and although my hand burned as if I'd thrusted into a fire, I managed to pull out a bag. A bag would be an overstatement, it was just a small pouch. I opened it and saw an apple and a knife in it, and I grabbed the knife tightly. This was it.

And now, just when I thought I could run, I saw Teddy kill Wesley without any feeling, and Lily, who looked terrified, leaving the spot with Tybal. Even as I ran, I wondered if it was any good, where the hell was I going to run off to? I saw some tributes just run and run, not stopping, not jumping into the craters. I saw some tributes jump in as well. What should I do?

I saw the boy from Seven murder the boy from Eleven with his bare hands, just like Teddy did, and then coming to the rescue of the girl from One. Even at that time I found it bizarre. Why would he risk his life for a Career? He gestured at her to follow him, but the girl refused and told him to leave. And then she helped her ally out, and then all three of them ran away.

Now, I was quite far from where this happened, but I still heard the blood-chilling scream of Jordan even as Aryton swore loudly. I stopped for a mere second in surprise, and that was when my eyes met Jordan's.

I knew I had to run with all my strength now.

And so I did, running as quickly as my legs could, looking back again and again only to see that she was closing the distance rather rapidly. One of the craters was in clear view, and it had to be my last resort. I had noticed that tributes simply disappeared in them, so they certainly had to be more than holes.

But then she was on top of me, slamming into my back forcefully. My breath exploded as I hit the ground, the knife skidding away from my hand.

"No…no! please! PLEASE!"

But Jordan didn't care about how much I pleaded, and soon she had the knife in her hand. I squirmed under her body, trying to get away, do something, when she turned me around so I was lying on my back.

And drove the knife right through my throat.

There you have it. Let me know your thoughts on the bloodbath. It's been a long time since I've written anything related to this, and I hope it wasn't too bad. I'll reveal next chapter what was in the craters. As of now, what do you think of the arena? And what are your thoughts on the chapter?

Eulogies:

24th- Horatio Aravani: He had a really different story, and I could honestly relate to what he did and why he did it. I liked him quite a bit, but I knew his issue was going to lead to his doom. Rest in peace Horatio, you were a good character.

23rd- Lanai Mitsubishi: So, I asked Pi whether I could use one of the tributes as a bloodbath, and she agreed. It was going to be Canon here, but I see a lot of things for him, so it had to be Lanai. She was a really different and real kid. Honestly, I care about respect just as much as she does, and hence she was really relatable to me. However, her time was up. Rest in peace.

22nd- Mickayla Kennedy: So Mickayla was a ray of sunshine and the cold winter breeze at the same time. I liked her, and I felt I couldn't portray her very well. Sorry about it. She was a good character and will be missed. Rest in peace.

21st- Emeline Grey: This wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be Ivory here, but things just played out. And it just seemed to fit, in case the Careers turned on each other, she would be the first to go. she was a great character, and it's sad to see you go.

20th- Wesley Elster: Wesley was honestly a good character. He was a nice guy and he was persistent, which are really good traits. However, his leg, although he could walk on it, posed a problem anyway. He wasn't going to make it, sadly. Rest in peace.

19th- Maurice Toussaint: He was a brilliant character, and I mean brilliant. And that's why I had to do this. I failed to do justice to Maurice and his character, and I know I messed up big time. You were a good kid, and I wished you could be happy. Hopefully there's something good for you in the afterlife. Rest in peace.

18th- Tapicca Shrone: Now this kid was amazing, and had a good personality. Sadly, she was overpowered by many other characters, and I just couldn't see her escaping this. Like, I just knew she would go to the cornucopia, and wouldn't survive it, being so young. She was a great kid though and will be missed. Rest in peace.

So that happened to be my largest bloodbath, as I usually don't kill off more than five. But I just felt that in an open area, it was more probable that more kids would go. What did you think of it?

As for the alliances…

Team 1: Ivory, Siobhan, Dwayne (temporary, till he finds his allies)

Team 2: Everette, Casper

Team 3: Saunder, Jordan, Aryton

Team 4: Shama, Canon

Team 5: Lily, Tybal

Have a great day!